CINEMA
Could there be a ‘Barbie’ sequel? What Greta Gerwig says about a ‘Ken’ spinoff movie
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have dropped contrasting hints about the future of ‘Barbie’. What about the movie’s director?
‘Barbie’ was the worldwide box office hit of 2023, raking in over $1.4 billion, around $85 million more than ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ and nearly $500 million more than the more critically-acclaimed ‘Oppenheimer’. Numbers which make it Warners Bros.’ highest-grossing film of all time.
When a movie is such a rousing success, the temptation is inevitably there to put out a sequel or spinoff, which director Greta Gerwig appears to have hinted at herself.
Speaking in an interview with CBS News’ 60 minutes alongside husband Noah Baumbach, with whom she co-wrote ‘Barbie,’ the 41-year-old was asked whether a sequel was likely once she had finished working on her current projects, two film adaptations of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ book series.
Gerwig drops ‘Barbie’ sequel and ‘Ken’ spinoff hint
“We have way too much material for Ken”, Gerwig revealed. “We would write and write and write”. Baumbach then chimed in, potentially letting the cat out of the bag. “Don’t give it away, because we might do…”.
“The truth is, you know, I’ll guess we’ll see,” a smiling Gerwig concluded.
‘Barbie’ lead actress Margot Robbie has previously played down suggestions of a follow-up to movie, telling the Associated Press: “I think we put everything into this one. We didn’t build it to be a trilogy or something. Greta put everything into this movie, so I can’t imagine what would be next.”
What about a film focused more on ‘Ken,’ played in the original by Ryan Gosling? In June, Pinkvilla reported that the Canadian actor was pushing for a sequel after being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. But could we ever see a ‘Ken’ without ‘Barbie’?